President Emmanuel Macron of France has appointed a high-profile loyalist as interior minister in a reshuffle intended to breathe new life into his cabinet after a string of gaffes and political setbacks, reports The Telegraph.
Christophe Castaner, 52, steps down as head of Mr Macron's party La République en Marche (Republic on the Move) to take up the post.
The job had been vacated by Gérard Collomb who quit two weeks previously to run for mayor of the city of Lyon in a blow to the centrist French president.
Four other government members were replaced in the reshuffle, including the culture and agriculture ministers, seen as weak links in the cabinet.
The heavyweight finance and foreign affairs ministers retain their positions while Marlène Schiappa, the gender equality minister, and Jean-Michel Blanquer, the education minister, have been granted wider remits.
The reshuffle proved a conundrum for Mr Macron, who kept France in the dark for two weeks over his move.
It came after a rocky start to the summer recess for the 40-year old leader, who saw his popularity slump after a scandal involving his Elysée security chief, Alexandre Benalla, and the resignation of his star environment minister, Nicolas Hulot - a former wildlife TV presenter.
After driving through a string of reforms, growth figures have slowed and Mr Macron has come under fire for brash off-the-cuff comments that, polls suggest, have fuelled French impressions that he is “arrogant”.
He has even come in for a drubbing from his wife Brigitte, according to daily Le Parisien, which cited Elysée sources as saying the presidential walls “shook” this summer over their noisy rows.
The newspaper reported that she was so annoyed at his inability to fire his ex-security aide more promptly that she left Paris for their holiday home in Le Touquet to cool down.